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Ottawa, ON – “We are asking every MP to oppose Bill C – 10 and keep these jobs in Canada,” said IAM Transportation District 140 President and Directing General Chairperson Fred Hospes.

Hospes was on Parliament Hill this morning to denounce Bill C-10, which amends the Air Canada Public Participation Act. The amendments allow Air Canada to control the type and the volume of any aircraft maintenance work of its fleet in Canada. “Under these amendments, Air Canada is under no obligation to perform any of its maintenance work in Canada,” said Hospes

Under the Act formed in 1988, Air Canada was obligated to keep aircraft heavy maintenance facilities in Winnipeg, Mississauga and Montréal. But Air Canada sold its heavy maintenance to Aveos Fleet Performance 2007 who continued operations in the three centers until in went bankrupt in 2012 and 2,600 IAM members lost their jobs. Air Canada then moved most of its heavy-maintenance work out of the country. “When we called upon the Harper government to intervene in 2012 to save this important employer and those 2,600 jobs, they refused,” explained Hospes.

“We were pleased when the Québec government, supported by Manitoba, took up our case,” said IAM Québec coordinator David Chartrand. “In November 2015, the Québec Court of Appeal ruled the Act still required Air Canada to perform its heavy maintenance and overhaul work in Montréal, Mississauga and Winnipeg.”

The IAM was shocked on February 17, 2016 when Québec announced it would drop its litigation. “At the same time, the Trudeau Liberals, who in opposition denounced the Harper government for its inaction, were now going even further,” explained Chartrand. “The Government said that it planned to modernize the Act to remove any real requirement for Air Canada to do any of its maintenance work in Canada, in exchange for vague promises of future work at Centre’s of Excellence tied to the Air Canada purchase of 45 C Series airliners.”

“If Air Canada believes that Bombardier’s C-Series aircraft makes operational and financial sense for them, there should be no need to bribe them with a free pass to offshore all of their maintenance work,: explained Chartrand.

“We will be bringing forward a petition and will aggressively lobby all parties to kill Bill C-10,” said Hospes. “We want to meet with the minister. We need to be building industries like aircraft maintenance in Canada, not inviting them to leave.”

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“Q. Will Garda representatives have access to the card after I sign it?
A. Definitely not! The cards are returned to the IAM and kept under strict security until the application to certify is filed. They are then forwarded to the Labour Board with the application and become property of the Labour Board. Neither Garda nor anyone else has any right under the law to see these cards at any time, except the IAM and the Labour Board.”